Why yes, I am still catching up on relics from my last February trip to Tokyo! In Shosen Book Tower, where the Yuribu was impressively large and well-organized and has a variety of manga, photo albums, novels and other print matter, there were several large artbooks were visible on the shelves and near the register with a very attractive, eye-catching layouta. An artbook of Avalon Yuri anthology illustrations were prominently displayed as was the subject of today’s review Marguerite – Fly’s Art Works (Marguerite フライ作品集).

If you have been paying attention to Yuri recently, you have probably encountered Fly’s artwork.Fly’s done work for Kadokawa and has been the cover artist for Comic Yuri Hime. They have, of course been one of the featured artists at the Yuriten. I quite like their work. It’s got a gentle sensibility and is very moody without being depressing or dull. Pretty girls in contemplative moments set in appealing surroundings. There’s little service, and a lot of intimacy without exploitation. The artist’s very specific form of service comes through in the collection as a whole, but as fetishes go, it’s arguably ignorable. ^_^

The first section, “Innocence,” consists of portraits of individual girls. Section 2 and beyond feature more couples. Section 3 “Love Unrequited” is split between portraits of individuals and couples and Section 4, “Secret Love” is full of Comic Yuri Hime cover art and similar couple portraits.

Fly’s work incorporates a lot of background color and shape without much texture or depth, the art uses water and plant life as the setting rather often. The overall sense is normal days passing in the lives of young women, some of whom who happen to be together. There’s no drama, which makes this collection less like something to page through and more like something to pull down off the shelf and open up, smile at the image and put back for another day.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

It’s all very pleasant ^_^